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Artist Statement:
The artistic philosophy that
has inspired me in composing
my photographs over the last
fifty plus years is really
quite simple: It is to capture
something extraordinary in
what is otherwise commonplace
to the casual observer. I am
fortunate that the gallery
which represents me in
Montreal, Beaux Arts David
Astrof, has shared my point of
view. While the artist’s
conception is important
in-so-far-as it expresses
something original (and/or
freshens how we perceive the
world around us), I believe it
is equally important that the
concept be inspiring and not
merely cleverly unique.
Photography is not currently
my main source of income. My
livelihood is management
consultation work which takes
me around the world. It is
traveling, with its expatriate
experience of being apart from
the familiar, which infects my
vision and shapes my choice of
perspective. This fuels my
inspiration to create a
photograph imbued with the
magic of that particular
setting at that particular
moment in time. While travel
is a big part of what
motivates my creative process,
it is this “stranger in a
strange land” experience which
influences all my work.
In my last solo exhibition
with Beaux Arts David Astrof,
...
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Artist Exhibitions:
Beaux Arts David Astrof May
2007
Royal Victoria Hospital
October 2007...
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Artist Galleries:
Beaux Arts David Astrof
Thomson House
3650 McTavish St.
Montreal, QC
Canada...
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Collections:
McGill University
Montreal, Canada
The Royal Victoria Hospital
Montreal, Canada
Beaux Arts David Astrof
Montreal, Canada
The Roger Weston Collection
Winnetka, IL
The Carson Llewellyn
Collection Houston, Tx
The Argyle Institute
Montreal, Canada
The Marc Côté Gallery
Ile D'Orleans, Canada
Art for Healing Foundation
Montreal, Canada
...
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Reviews for Harvey Horowitz:
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Exhibit displays results of photographer’s travelling lens
By Heather Solomon
CJN News
June 7, 2007
One of Harvey Horowitz’s favourite travel destinations became the jewel in the crown of his current photography show. This was not just because of the beauty of Cabo San Lucas, but also because this experienced lansman with an eye for originality made his images unforgettable. Until June 13, you can call 514-286-2476 and make an appointment to see the exhibition at the stately Thomson House, 3650 McTavish St,, which is used by David Astrof to display the artists he represents.
Once there, you’ll immediately be drawn to a wall installation of a dozen dry-mounted, unframed images that glow with planes of colour. They look like hard-edge paintings softened by the three-dimensional effects of shadows that deepen and alter the hues. This is an example of the architecture found in the Mexican resort town at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, where a desert climate strangely coexists with an endless vista of water. The climate prompts the simplicity of adobe construction, painted in pastels to reflect the unwavering sunlight.
Horowitz does not stand back and snap the buildings in their entirety. Rather, he appends himself to their smooth exteriors, shooting upward and along the yellow, orange, pink and turquoise walls that meet the sky’s blue like a paint-box palette. He’ll shoot through the open squares of perforated walls to different coloured walls beyond, or along outdoor passageways connected by a zipper of coloured stairs. No people are in evidence, which lends a sense of mystery and other-worldliness to these stark shapes. The only living things that punctuate the architecture’s clean lines are lone fingers of bright green cacti.
Horowitz then shakes us from the spell of solitude we’ve fallen under, by dropping us into a scene that could have been taken from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. A group of pterodactyl-like pelicans swarm toward us in a second installation of 25 panels. These were photographed off the stern of a deep-sea-fishing boat that takes tourists out to hook and release giant marlins. The pelicans follow the boat back to port, hoping to r make a meal of the leftover bait.
“I was standing on deck and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. 1 clicked over 100 pictures as they were coining at me,” says Horowitz who was further amazed at the human qualities of the giant birds captured in mid- flight. One looks as if it’s conducting an orchestra, with its leathery elbows akimbo and feathered fingers in mid-beat.
One other montage was snapped in a Tokyo park. It is made up of sequential photos of a Japanese dance troupe in white and black kimonos and has an immediacy that brings it to life. Single photographs in the show reveal the artist’s sensitivity to pattern (the interlaced leaves at the base of a palm leaf plant, a dead vine’s sapless veins still glued to an Oregon wall) and texture (playful close-ups that defy identification until you make the connection).
Two giclées, digital images transferred to canvas, are representative of what Horowitz does not dwell on in his work, but sometimes can’t resist: stunning, National Geographic-like panoramas of an Arizona valley and the Canadian Rockies.
What’s unbelievable is that Horowitz has never before shown any of his photos publicly. They are the product of years of experimentation , of having his artist’s eye suss the unusual from the usual. He began working with a camera in 1956 at the age of eight, documenting the world around him. At 12 years of age, he had his own darkroom. By 13, he had graduated to a single lens reflex camera, and at 16, he discovered the world, able to drive to ski destinations. An African safari when he was 21 got him hooked on exploring further afield through his lens.
Now, Horowitz’s work as a management consultant and his wife Cynthia’s job as McGill University’s director of teaching and learning take the couple on speaking engagements around the globe. The camera goes along, and since 1999 when he went digital, Horowitz has discovered the freedom of not having to limit his shots ac- cording to how much film he’s packed.
Astrof discovered the artist’s prodigious output and talent when Horowitz approached him for advice on how to take the digital pictures beyond the realm of his own computer screen. The art dealer pored over thousands of images on CD and immediately envisioned a major show that “would stand up against any fine contemporary photographer’s.” He has given the images a polished, curatorial presentation that-excites and incites viewers to see the world around them with new eyes. It’s a show not to be missed.
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